


Intermission

by blossomtree



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-02
Updated: 2014-06-02
Packaged: 2018-02-03 05:01:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1732103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blossomtree/pseuds/blossomtree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A loss in contact had spoken volumes for Anna Carlisle, and the static she heard for the last few months had been hard to accept. With the dead roaming around and the loss of hope invading her mind and heart, she made the decision to set out on her own. Except like other survivors, Anna had a conscience. After all, she was partly responsible. Set in Season 3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start

**Intermission**

_Prologue_

Intermission, noun. Definition: a short interval allowing a rest between the acts of a play or parts of a performance; a period during which action temporarily ceases; an interval between periods of activity; an act of intermitting or the state of being intermitted; a period where contact is lost, a 'lapse' in contact; an inadvertent interruption in a broadcast in which there is no sound, a pause in communication.

Intermission; four syllables, twelve letters. An interval, a delay, dead air.

Life had become an intermission of sorts. Contact from other sides were missing, as if misplaced, but there were answers that came with the silence heard. She had known that this would happen when the final decision was made. She expected it, feared it. It had been a huge decision, such a life changing decision that, for Anna Carlisle, was one that was made with a heavy heart. She had told her colleagues that she didn't agree with their thoughts and decisions, that what they were doing was completely immoral and betraying towards all those who were alive. They had laid their trust in us, she had said, and we're stabbing them in the back. But her words were left hanging, and ignored. She had left work in the evening and walked home, her mind heavy with the images she had seen in the lengthy presentation. The excitement within the room was too hard to watch. She had never seen her colleagues as excited as they were, claiming that it would be best for the city of Atlanta, as well as other cities and countries all around the world, if they went ahead with the decisions and the five year long wait for the confirmation and the testing. It was all ready to go ahead, but like Anna, those that she worked with, the people that she saw every day and spent the majority of her days with, were unprepared for what was in stall for them.

The cure for the common cold, flu. But something had gone wrong. An ingredient had accidentally been added into the serum, and the test subjects were experiencing fever-like symptoms that turned severe, dangerous and life-threatening. Before they knew it - and before Anna could comprehend the situation - the test subjects succumbed to their symptoms. And a short time later, the world as they had known it was no more. The dead had come back to life. How and why, those were the questions that would remain unanswered.

Until now.


	2. Miles From Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna continues her journey to Washington when someone stumbles across her.

**Chapter One**

_Miles from Home_

In the months that came after the first initial outbreak, the world was quiet. The inhabitants of the city of Atlanta had dwindled down to almost nothing, with only a handful of survivors that could be accounted for. The Government had done their best to try and stabilise the threat of the enemy, but within the first few days of the epidemic, the army soon realised that the threat was greater than they had originally anticipated and been trained for. The dead were hungry and fresh, and being in the city, they were everywhere. Every direction they turned to, the dead were within reach, clawing and grabbing at the living. It was not a long time before the world became empty of the majority of the human existence, with the dead lurking at each corner. Some of the dead were killed and disposed of by the army and the refugee camps in and around the city were moved to the countryside with the assistance of the military. Whilst some made it - with the hope of a new, safer life filling their hearts and becoming a reality - some were, unfortunately, lost in the transition. As the outbreak rolled into its fifth month, all contact was lost and those who were in connection with the Government were left in the loop.

Anna Carlisle was one of those people. Her role as a biomedical scientist for the U.S. army had allowed her to travel the world, supervising and providing consultations with other scientists, administering tests on subjects, managing lab operations and conducting research on new medical tests deemed as important and imperative for the safety of America and the rest of the world. Originally being based in Washington, Anna Carlisle had made the trip to Atlanta just a month before the outbreak occurred to assist with a new test that could have potentially wiped out the common cold and flu. It was a colossal find, one that could shape the future and generations to come. A few of her colleagues had doubts, just like her own, but after the first observation, the test subject began to experience flu-like symptoms, whilst other test subjects immediately felt better. But what every medical professional and biomedical scientist feared had ultimately come true. The test subject's conditions worsened until their life came to an end. And what they did not know was the fact that someone who had access to the labs had added a dangerous and risky compound that would cause disastrous results on the tests, test subjects and the United States in general.

The condition of other countries was unknown, but Anna could only suggest that it had spread like wildfire. The lines of communication were open in the CDC, but no one was picking up on the other end. Her calls were being left unanswered and all that was left was to try and make it out on her own. The base in Washington was unlike the base in Atlanta. Washington had underground facilities where testing was conducted, but it was also the place where the answer, and the cure, was.

When and how she was going to get there was still in the planning. The scientists at Washington would be waiting for her; after all, she had a duty to inform them of the situation, of the loss of the people and their colleagues, as well as the serum and blood samples of those infected.

Anna woke as the sun rose in the distance, and stretched. She was vaguely aware of the cracking of her bones as she moved suddenly, the bones grazing against each other in protest. The night had been long and cold and the thin covering of her sleeping bag only brought her little comfort in the sense that the weather and seasons were changing quicker and faster than she expected them to. The upcoming arrival of autumn was not a welcome one, and could only mean the arrival of winter would soon be behind it. The need for shelter, a more promising and protective shelter was prominent and never far away from her mind; but she'd seen terrible things done by desperate people. She'd seen the extremes of what people would do just to have a roof over their head for the night, or food in the stomachs, or water in their system. She'd seen the survivalist in every single person she had come across, and even though she knew she was one of them, it still scared her to see the extent of harm they would commit just for those little things. Shelter was scarce, food was scarce and water was scarce… all tainted with the thought of death. She had decided not to drink from rivers and streams, unsure as to whether one of the dead - or a straggler, as she'd come to call them - had passed through it.

She rubbed her eyes, and ran a hand through her limp hair feeling the knots and matted hair. The thought of a shower or a nice, long and undisturbed bath was never too far from her mind, and she missed the freedom and safety the old world had brought. As her senses came back to her and the tiredness dissipated, she was able to hear the faint moans of the dead below her. She stole a glance from the roof of the school bus she was currently sitting on, and saw that there was only two stragglers stumbling around below her. It wasn't much of a threat, but the dead were unpredictable. She'd seen many times before when she saw other survivors faced with a handful of stragglers just how it took all of one second for the one straggler to get the upper hand and to wipe out the majority of the group. Anna, despite wanting to help and come to their aid, knew that it was better and safer for her to stand in the shadows.

Like a criminal, she had a price on her head. She held part of the answer in her bag. She needed to survive, and in order to survive, she had to let people die. As morbid as it sounded, Anna had to think of the cure.

She quickly packed up the small amount of belongings that she had, and ate a granola bar. She watched the stragglers as they bumped into one another. They were once a man and a woman - with careers, jobs, families, responsibility… their lives and future in front of them. And yet, here they were, grasping at her feet that dangled off the edge of the old school bus. They were animals, all evidence of human mannerisms diminished and gone.

After finishing her dry granola bar, she opened the hatch on the roof and climbed into the bus. She'd made sure that the doors and windows were locks, and even though spending the night inside the bus was ideal and attractive, she enjoyed sleeping outside. Camping had been one of her favourite things growing up, and the cool air made her sleepy. It was nice being outside, out in the open, with the stars twinkling in the sky above and the bright moon hanging in the sky.

She placed her bag on one of the seats and opened a window, whistling quietly to capture the stragglers attention. They quickly made their way around the large yellow vehicle towards the sound and she pulled out her large knife. Once they were close enough and within stabbing distance, she quickly drove the blade into their heads. The sound of the blade slicing into the mush that was now their brains caused Anna's stomach to churn. If there was anything that she would never get used to, it was that. The sound and the squelching…

Anna shook her head, and wiped her knife on her trouser leg. Her attire was nothing to be desire, whilst she was used to wearing army clothes, it wasn't as ideal as she had originally hoped for. The army trousers were ideal, however, with their tightness and ability to move swiftly and quickly in them. The jacket was ideal for the colder months and during the nights, but she had found a number of articles of clothing in an abandoned vehicle on the highway with neutral coloured jumpers that served their purpose. The boots, which never strayed too far from her feet, were comfortable and practical for the amount of walking she had to do.

The school bus was an ideal temporary home and she had checked the fuel meter as soon as she had come across it the night before, but the meter was empty. Another day of walking was on the agenda, but as long as she followed the map, she would hopefully make a dent in her journey. The journey to Washington was a long one, and the wait for the call in Atlanta didn't help with that. The hope of finding a vehicle was lessening as each day passed, and the rarity of a good, stable vehicle that worked efficiently was increasing as each day passed.

A few hours later, Anna still found herself walking. The roads were empty and walker free, which surprised Anna. Ever since she left the security of the CDC a month ago, she had seen at least a handful of stragglers every day. It was normal to see them, and it wasn't normal when you didn't. That's how the world was now. It was what it had come to. She had tried to prepare herself of when she would come across other living people, other survivors. Would she tell them that she could have the answer to all of this, the cure? Would she keep it from them, and wait until she knew them a little better? Or would she keep it to herself until she got to Washington?

But so far, she hadn't seen another human being for longer than ten minutes before stragglers came for them. And they had never seen her, never knowing that she was watching their deaths unfold in front of her. She was aware of them, and they never knew she existed.

Anna stopped, her eyes narrowing at the scene in front of her. Vehicles were scattered around the road; some crashed and some deserted. She glanced around at the edge of the woods, at the road up ahead, and at the vehicles. It was empty, no sign of life or of the dead. She took a hesitant step forward, pulling her gun out of the holster on her leg and inched closer, her body ready and poised. It was difficult to tell if anyone - living or dead - was around. She checked the vehicles, pulling open the doors as quietly as possible and checking the fuel meter. The majority of the vehicles were empty of gas, and she was about to give up when she counted the vehicles that she had checked and noticed that she had one more to check.

The exterior was chipped and worn but from a distance it looked as if it would be able to carry her for the miles it would take to travel to Washington. The fuel, however, was her main concern at that moment. She pulled open the door, wincing as it creaked in protest and froze as the noise echoed around the surrounding area. There was no movement, as she waited for a few moments, and she entered the vehicle by reaching to see the meter. There was little gas in it, but it wasn't enough to take her all the way to Washington. She put her gun away, and thought for a moment. It would definitely keep her safe for a while, and the back seat would be more comfortable to sleep on. It would serve her purpose; get her on the road and on the way to where she needed to be, and…

"Lost?"

A voice came from behind her and she stopped, frozen to the spot. She was in a position that was compromising, and one that she had vowed that she wouldn't get herself into if she ever came across other survivors. She took a deep breath, mentally cursing herself, and backed out of the vehicle. She turned slowly, her hand moving to her gun, and saw a lone man standing in front of her, with his hands on his hips.

He was taller, a lot taller than her, and his hair was short and brown, with a dusting of grey. He looked like a man of authority, the types she had seen daily in her job in the army. He was looking at her, with a smirk on his lips. She stood there for a moment, taking in the situation. There was no sign of a vehicle around which could only mean that he had walked out of the woods that surrounded them. She allowed her eyes to observe him, taking in the gun strapped to his hips and thigh. And the unmistakable feature of an eye patch.


End file.
